Update on our Tirp

Below is everything we did on our trip so far.  We are heading out again now so I till update again before we leave. I have to go to the office for internet here.  We are having a blast in this weather :)

Thursday - Mar 22

8:00pm - Leaving Wausau, full tank of gas

8:15 - Nick throws up (projectile type)car does not smell very nice!

8:34 - Carrie finished cleaning up nick and car seat and back on the road

9:21 - Stopped at wayside near Coloma/Hwy. 21 for Stefan, he needed to go to the bathroom already and we also changed nick while we were stopped.

11:14 - Hit Illinois border - 189 miles and 1/2 tank of gas so far. First time Nick ever went out of state!  

Friday - Mar 23

12:45am - Stopped for gas in Oglesby, IL at 274.3 miles
25.2 MPG, $26.35

3:05am - Nick is NOT enjoying this part of the trip although he is bein very good considering...he only crabbed a little while and that was it.  Stopped to adjust his seat so it lays back a bit.

3:20am - back on the road, Nick fell asleep for a while but he didn't sleep real well.  He was very good though and just watching sponge bob. We were very proud of him.

4:00am - The boys are all sleeping sound.  

6:15am - Gas stop at 597 miles, the older boys woke up but Nick stayed sleeping.
24.9 MPG, $32.71

6:35am - back on the road

6:54 - KY border,

8:12 - TN border

8:13 - Stopped at TN welcome center.  Everybody needs a break from driving.  Cory slept in car.

8:47 - Back on the road

9:05 - Took an exit for breakfast.  IHOP gal was rude so we had White Castle for breakfast. lol

9:40 - Back on road

11:15am - Side trip to see a dam and switch drivers.  Never found dam.  Got gas though. - Manchester, TN at 831 miles
24.0 MPG, $23.47

11:41 - Back on road.  Most of the driving was parallel to Hwy so we didn't actually lose that much time.

Times are EST starting here because cell changed to EST

1:00pm - Stopped at rest stop next to Nickajack reseviour

1:10pm - Took a side trip to go over a cool looking green bridge (it was really narrow) and to check out some houses up on the sides of steep hills.  Found a marina and RV park hidden off to the side.  Found some really run down homes and some really expensive ones.  Van couldn't make it all the way up the road leading to some of the expensive homes' driveways... too steep.

2:21 - Done driving around and back on the highway. Lost over an hour but it was worth it.

2:22 - Hit Georgia border and officially in EST now

2:26 - Back in TN

2:42 - Hit first traffic jam of the trip at Chatanooga, wasn't a real bad one.

2:56 - Back in GA again

5:30 - We hit real slow moving traffic and it's getting annoying.  We may stop soon at a hotel so we don't have to deal with the rush hour traffic stuff.

7:00pm - Stopped at AmeriHost Inn (Hampton Inn on Coupon.) We aren't nearly as far as we wanted to be before stopping or by this time of day but bad traffic jams and one accidental detour threw us off schedule. Nick was a little crabby there and decided he wanted to GO BYE BYE.  He didn't sleep real well with us in the bed.  He woke up several times crying telling us to "move over"! lol  

Satururday, March 24
8:00am - Cory got up and got breakfast (to see if it was worth going to.)

8:30 - Everybody else got up and ate. The breakfast wasn't that bad at all..they did not have fruit but they had cereal, bagels, toast, waffels and condiments.

9:35 - Car is loaded.  Time to go.

9:58 - On the road

11:31 - Stopping for lunch and gas Hwy 75 exit 109

11:33 - Decided to check out downtown Vienna GA.  Stopped at Dollar General to get some snacks and sandles and they shorted us $10 for the change. Carrie went back in and they found some $10s in the $20s slot so they didn't question her and gave her the missing $10.  Ate at Popeye's. Carrie got spicey gravy with her mashed potattos but said it was really good.

12:21pm - Still on gas/lunch break. Got gas at 243 miles.
23.9 MPG, $34.48

12:46 - Back on the highway after luch/gas stop

1:20 - Saw our first palm tree. They were short and didn't look really healthy but they were real.  Planted around an Antique shop. Cory and I decide to wait and see how long it takes Stefan and Trevor to notice one.

2:02 - Stefan finally notices a palm tree.  We've passed dozens.

2:20 - Arrived in FL and stopping at FL visitor center

2:59 - Back on road after FL visitor center.  Found out the orange juice they give you for free there is Florida Natural out of a carton. That was a little dissapointing :( Although it was really good.

3:00 - Stopping already. Need to put sunscreen on Nick's window.  Saw a really cool looking back road and took some pictures (trees arching over the road.)

3:07 - Carrie saw a "Scenic Route" sign.  We checked the map and decided to take 41 until it crosses 75 again.

5:25 - Hit our first real "stop moving" type of traffic jam.  Traffic isn't even moving an inch. Must have been an accident up ahead.

5:41 - Traffic started moving again

5:42 - Traffic stops again... I think we made it a whole 50 yards. Tons of cars (maybe 20+) flew by on the shoulder.  

5:50 - Quite a few cars are getting annoyed by it and pull off onto shoulder (including us) to force the others to drive in the ditch in order to pass (they do.)  Up ahead someone pulled over under the overpass and now there is a line of cars on the shoulder. Fire truck trying to get through on the shoulder and get to what must be an accident and having a hard time getting trough because of all the idiot driving on the shoulder. They are forced to pull off into the grass to let the fire truck through!

6:06 - Finally moving again.

6:20 - It was an accident.  One car is on a tow truck and another is next to it in the ditch.

6:25pm - Finally hit the Florida Expressway.  Only took one hour to go 5 miles!

6:45 - Stopped at Expressway "Oassis" for bathroom break.

6:54 - Back on the Expressway

6:55 - First (and only) toll booth. $2.50 charge.

7:05 - Saw our first orange grove

8:15 - Realized we never got driving directions for coming in from this route.  Had to improvise.  Cory navigated/drove to Hwy 192 then recognized the route from our last trip down here 6-7 years ago.  He found Vacation Village where we stayed last time... but what he didn't realize is that we aren't staying in the same place this time.

8:30 - Found and checked into Celebration World Resort.  Just in time.  The gas light is on now.

9:00 - Found out they have "cribs" available for free.  It is actually a "pack and play" but that's just fine.  Housekeeping brought one up.  Glad we forgot ours afterall.  Saves a lot of space in the van that we just don't have.

9:30 - Pizza arrives.  Boys are planning on getting up at 7:30am so they can get to the pool when it opens at 8.  They have their alarm set but Cory and I are betting they don't make it.

Sunday, March 25

9:30am - Woke boys up.  Nick had a good night's sleep (didn't even wake up once) and woke up few minutes ago.

10:35 - Everybody is up, cleaned, dressed, etc. and ready to head out.  We promised the boys we'd go to IHOP today so we'll have a late breakfast there.  Shouldn't be as crowded this time of day hopefully. There was two young girls (sisters) ages about 12 and 6 and the 12 yr old threw a water balloon at her sister and it broke right in front of our door.  She slipped and slid against the wall.  Then they were downstairs and we heard the little girl screaming.  Trevor and Stefan were down there and heard the older one say "did you like my suprise" and the little girl says "NO I hate your surpises and I don't want a sister EVER EVER!"

11:00 - After reporting a bunch of missing items on the inventory to the front desk, we had to stop back at our room to pick up our dirty clothes off the floor she they could vacuum. (They were sending someone to replace the missing items and vacuum the carpet where we found the piece of glass.

11:34 - Gas, gift shop for Herb and breakfast at IHOP

12:53pm - Leaving IHOP, stopped at booth outside doors and decided to trade 90 minutes of our time and $40 for $142 worth of Disney tickets.

1:15 - back at resort.  Made a grocery list for the week and started another load of laundry.  At least we won't have a ton to wash when we get back home, not to mention fit in the van.

2:30 - Nick went down for a nap. Left for Wal-Mart. Hate shopping there but we're on a tight budget the rest of this trip, especially if we want to do anything that costs money.

4:30 - Back at resort and the boys unload groceries.  It looks like two weeks worth but with Trevor and Stefan eating we'll be lucky to make it for two.  The boys unloaded the van and went down to the pool.  We're going to kick back and relax until Nick wakes up.

6:00 - Nick woke up.  This trip must be pretty exciting for him. He slept 3-1/2 hours. I'm shocked he sleeps so well in the pack n play.  When he woke up he was saying "I'm scared" "I'm scared".  I don't think he knew where he was and it was dark in there with the curtains closed too.

7:15 pm - We are just lounging out enjoying this terrific weather and sitting on the balcony a bit.  We all ate and the boys are still down at the pool.

8:58 pm - We are at Walmart for the second time becuase we needed to get some kind of stroller for Nick. We ended up finding one for 14 bucks!  We are heading back to the villa and then we are going to Old Town.

10:30 At Old-Town and the boys are thinking about going on Sling Shot! I would rather them NOT go on it but they want to.  I happen to think that they should PAY YOU to go on this thing that slings you 365 feet into the air at 100 mph but NO! Instead they charge you 25 bucks a person to go on this.  Well they decided to go on it but they both had to go to the bathroom first.  Umm ya I would too!  They went on it and were both pretty wobbly kneed after they got off lol.  We got a dvd of them on it. They had a camera on the seat so you get to see them upclose and personal lol. Plus they each got a T-shirt. Stefan I don't think stopped smiling once!  Everyone watches when someone goes on this thing and they all commented on how Stefan did not stop smiling.  

They also went on another ride there, can't remember the name off hand and that was 10 bucks each then because it was slow $5 each for a second ride so they went again.  They got a ride free too because the computer cut the 2nd one short a bit.

We went to check out another ride where they harnace you in so you are hanging front-down (superman-flying-like) from a really long cable.  Then they winch you back and up with another cable. Once you get to the very top (which is very very high) the 2nd cable releases and you swing down and forward (head-first-superman-like.)  Everybody that went on it screamed, covered their face or both.

Monday, March 26

12:10am - Just got back and everybody is ready for bed.

11:30am - Heading out for a day of sight seeing.  The boys don't want to go.  I think in part they are tired and in part they are pouting because we aren't going to a theme park today.  We have to stop at the main office (for Internet access and to let the boys know we are leaving.)

11:55am - Found the boys... they were in the room watching TV and eating.  Must have been in their room when we left.  They had said they were going to the pool earlier.

12:00pm - Have Internet access sitting outside of main office.  Going to copy/paste this to my journal.

Georgia

Well, we made it to Georgia, and we made it alive!  There were moments that I didn't think that was possible (crazy drivers and all) but we did it.  The first thing I want to tell you is that Nick was the most awesome baby!  He didn't sleep all night like we had planned and he did whine like twice I think during the over night drive but that was because he was getting so uncomfortable in the car seat.  We then layed it back a bit and he was fine then.  He went to sleep for a few hours then.  So he did great the ENTIRE 22 hours of driving we did last night!  YUP you heard me!! 22 whole hours!  He did great. It totally surprised me, he actually was  better behaved then STEFAN lol.  He watched a lot of spongebob and there were times when the tv was not even on and he did great.  In fact when we got to the hotel in Georgia he said "ready mama?"  He wanted to go right away.  Now we will see how he does with his first night stay in a hotel.  We do have internet here in this hotel...we are staying at the Amerihost inn...but I"m not sure if we will have it in our apt or not.  I will find out tomorrow night.  We have about another 9 hours of driving ahead of us tomorrow and I hope it goes as well as it did last night. 
I have to say though...when we first started out it was a MESS.  Here is what happened:  We made it Mosinee and Nick asked for water.  I gave him his cup with water in it and he sucked the whole cup down.  Well about 5 min later he threw up all over EVERYTHING!  His car seat was just full of it...and so was he!  It took me 20 minutes to clean it all up and It was not fun!  It was cold, I had to get Nick totally naked to clean him off with COLD diaper wipes...and it STUNK so bad forever!  That happened at 8:15pm. 
The night did get better though, we were driving pretty tired.  I drove first from 7:30 to 1am and then Cory drove until about 6am then I took over at 6:30 am to about 11:30am and then Cory drove until we got here about 7ish or so.  At 11:15pm Nick was in a new state for the very first time...and so was Trevor (Stefan's best friend who came with us) for that matter.  We had a pretty good trip overall.  Of course the boys were asking "when will we be at the hotel?" They wanted to go swimming, which they did as soon as we got here.  We will leave early tomorrow morning so we make it to our apt at a decent time and give Nick a chance to unwind before bed time.  I'm glad he got to unwind here that's for sure...and Unwind he did!   I will update hopefully tomorrow!  Hope everyone is doing well!

Very late night

We were gone all day today so I did not get a chance to get the video done :(  But we will as soon as we can!  I have not even watched them yet or got them on the computer.  We had a very good day today!  We went to the playland in the mall and Nick just had a blast and the funny thing was I think he thinks all older boys are deaf because he stomps on the floor in front of them and starts signing! lol it's so cute! 
I'm getting my lists done for our trip so we don't forget the important things like plug ins for the phones and stuff that's easy to forget about.  We are leaving Thurs night after Stefan's Grecco practice.  Then we are driving all night hoping that Nick will sleep for that trip!  Lets pray anyhow!  We do have a small video dvd player that he can watch so hopefully that will help us out.  We got the third season of sponge bob for him lol!  He loves sponge bob! Well, I will be updating more soon..and I am also taking the laptop with us so I hope to update every day while we are there.  Hope all is well for everyone and Please pray for my friend Shelley, her grandma is not doing well so she has been really going through a lot lately :(  Shell, know that I will be thinking of you often over the next few weeks!  And call me anytime if you need to talk ok! 

On the road again

Well, were on our way back to Appleton this morning because I FORGOT my main receipt and could not return the main things I needed to.  I want to do it before all the good clothes are gone.  Hubby is going to go with Nick and I:)  Were going to the Old Country Buffet for lunch.  I was telling hubby about it and he really needs to try it lol.  AND kids under 3 eat free so you can't go wrong there.  Ends up being cheaper then eating at the mall thats for sure.  You know, it's really great not having to worry about working today :)  we can actually do more things as a family now.

OH I have video of my son's wrestling matches yesterday and I will post them later today after they download on youtube.  He took the silver metal home :)  He took second!  I was very proud of him.  He knew he was going to get second because he ended up wrestling his friends from school so they all knew pretty much what place they were going to get lol. It sure is great practice though.  The first boy he wrestled comes up to me and says "can you tell Stefan something for me" I said sure, what is it.  and he says "can you tell him PLEASE no pins!" lol  He knew Stefan was going to win.  But it was so cute because the whole time they both had smiles on their faces.  Stefan did not pin him.  And the only guys that beat Stefan told me he got a lot better...he used to be able to pin Stefan but now he can't.  The guy he wrestled that beat him is a terrific wrestler and has went to individual state tourneys every year since like 7th grade.  Stefan kept up nicely though, he did well.  Stefan was the only one he didn't pin.  He's getting there.  The coach says after the camps this summer he should improve a lot more. 
Well, time to get my butt in gear...watch for pics and video later.

Florida

Make sure you check out the video and the pics in my last entry :) 

Here are some cute pics of my son. Couldn't resist.


 I got more news too...we have decided to go to Florida on spring break after all.  We have a nice apt over there rented in Kissimme (not sure if spelling is right) and at first we were not going to go because we were planning a trip to Disney world but then we didn't want to pay the high price if Nick wasn't going to remember it so now we decided to just go there and visit other things and wait to go to Disney until he is at least 4.  Our family has been to Disney four times since the kids were little, but never been there with Nick yet.  We just really want to see the first time excitement of getting to go to Disney and at this age he really doesn't know that Disney is such a great place lol  All kids NEED to go to Disney World so you get to see that first time excitement. It's the greatest feeling ever. I remember Alex and Stefan when we first told them.  They were glowing for weeks with anticipation.  We studied the maps and made plans where we would visit first and what countries we wanted to eat at it was just so much fun.  They were right around 10 the first time we went.  Thats one memory that is very clear in my mind.  I also wrote down everything we did on the way there, while we were there, and on the way home.  So they read that story (accompanied with all the pictures) for years and years after that.  Once in a while I will pull it out even now, but now it makes me sad because the kids are all grown up now.  I'm so glad we get to do it all over again :)  Well, gotta go get ready, we are going back to Gymboree today to return some things that just didn't look "right" on nick.  Will add more pics later on today when we get home...it will be late because Stefan has his wrestling matches tonight so I will be there for that too and we won't be home till late.

Video and pictures of the family

THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS ON MY LAST ENTRY!  I HAVE AN UPDATE BELOW ABOUT THE INTERPRETER :) 

You have to listen to this!  This was just so great and I'm so proud of Stefan :)

His coach was so very proud of him and so were we!  I also have some pics below to show you.  Enjoy!

THE FIRST TWO ARE MY NIECE SARA AND MYSELF.  SARA IS BEING HER FUNNY SELF AND WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO CATCH A PICTURE OF ONE OF HER FUNNIEST.  THEN THERE IS ME LOOKING INTO THE BAR (MY LOVELY NIECE HEATHER TOOK THIS PICTURE)




THE NEXT TWO TWO ARE AT MY SONS AWARDS NIGHT CEREMONY (THE VIDEO ABOVE IS FROM THE SAME NIGHT) MY SON IS THE ONE IN THE WHITE AMERICAN EAGLE SHIRT. AND THE NEXT PICTURE IS OF MY DAUGHTER HOLDING NICK AND HER FRIEND BEHIND HER.



NEXT FEW ARE OF US AT CHUCKY CHEESE IN APPLETON.  WE WENT SHOPPING AT GYMBOREE WITH OUR GYM BUCKS ;) FIRST ONE IS OF MY NEPHEW BRADY AND THE RIGHT ONE IS MY SON NICK. AREN'T THEY JUST CUTIES!!!


<----NICK<---JADEN AND NICK AT MY HOUSE AFTER OUR TRIP

UPDATE:  WELL I AM HAPPY TO SAY THAT THEY DID FIGURE SOMETHING OUT AND I HAVE YET LEARNED HOW THEY PAID FOR IT.  I'M GOING TO EMAIL HIS INTERPRETER TOMORROW TO ASK HER.  HE STARTED GRECO WRESTLING PRACTICE TODAY RIGHT AFTER TRACK PRACTICE!  HE WAS A TIRED BOY TONIGHT!  FOUR HOURS OF PRACTICE AFTER SCHOOL!  HE DID GREAT THOUGH...HE SAID THAT GRECO IS 10 TIMES MORE STRENUOUS THEN REGULAR WRESTLING PRACTICE...AND HIS COACH SAID REGULAR WRESLING PRACTICE IS 10 TIMES HARDER THEN TRACK OR SOME OF THE OTHER SPORTS OUT THERE.  I CAN IMAGINE!  ALL I KNOW WAS WHEN I WASHED HIS WRESLING CLOTHES AFTER PRACTICE THEY WERE VERY WET!  LOL  HE IS SO HAPPY AND I AM TOO. I HAVE TO SEND MY THANKS TO WHOEVER DESERVES IT THAT'S FOR SURE.  I ALSO WANTED TO THANK HEATHER  S. AND KELLY FOR THE INFO!  I ACTUALLY WAS TAKING NOTES IN MY TABLET WITH ALL THE INFO I GOT AND IT REALLY HELPED.  I NOW HAVE SEVERAL PLACES TO GO TO LOOK FOR HELP IF I WOULD EVER NEED IT AGAIN. NOW OUR NEXT ONE WHICH IS SUMMER CAMP.  HE ALSO HAS A TOURNAMENT SAT AFTERNOON. 

Interpreters

I am just steaming right now because I just got an email stating that my son't interpreters would NOT be covered for his wrestling camps this summer.  I have cried about it, felt sorry for him, cried some more and then I just got ANGRY.  Now I have put in several emails to different people..his coach for starters.  I just don't feel it's fair for him to miss out on the things other kids get to go to just because he is deaf!  The cost for interpreters are 50 bucks an hour and we just can't cover that over a week long stay. It's 24 hours for 7 day we would have to pay for.  It is their time and they do have to stay in a hotel room for a week!  Can't blame them at all!  But I just assumed that there would be some sort of LAW protecting these deaf children who want to do the things every other child CAN do.  And he really wants to become a better wrestler.  These camps are necessary for these kids to become better.  Well, thanks for listening to me grip...back to google to try to find ANYTHING that can help me out. 

Just gabbing

It was so nice to come back and get all those comments!  Thanks...I didn't realize that many people read my journal :)  My hubby gets home tomorrow so I'm going to have him upload my video of Stefans awards night so you all can hear it. I sure hope you can hear it good enough.  My camera battery is dead so I'm charging it tonight so tomorrow I can add the pics i took during the night. 
Now to answer one of you questions...No I'm not going to get a different job very soon because I want to be able to spend a few weekends with my family. I have been working every single weekend for so long now and I miss spending time with them.  I'm looking forward to it and so is hubby.  For example this last Sunday I had to work and we didn't know about the awards ceremony until a week before so I didn't have time to ask off AND hubby had to go out of town too.  SO it left me finding a sitter and I hate that.  My daughter watched him though so it ended up nice but who knows!  I just wanted to say screw it and not go but if I did that I wouldn't have gotten my vacation pay for this year.  You have to be employed through the 15 to qualify.  I want my vacation pay lol!  I can't tell you how boring it is when Cory is gone. I miss him...seems like I'm talking baby talk ALL day! lol  You stay at home moms know what I"m talking about!  I need an adult! I remember a few years ago when I looked forward to cory going away for the weekend so I could have quite time! lol  Now I hate when he leaves.  Especially out here in the country...I hear all sorts of noises!  Last year there was a madman running around our woods...he had just shot his wife while she was running away from him down the street.  And burned their house down then he took off and the cops could not find him for two days!  I was alone for three mind you!  So two of those days I was scared out of my mind. It was just Nick and I home...the kids and Cory went to a wedding.  AND my inlaws didn't live next door yet!  I called the cops and they told me NOT to leave and turn all the lights on outside.  I will never forget those nights.  They found him the end of the second day dead in the woods...he killed himself.  Well, sorry to bore you with that story lol  I'm going to head to bed now, watch for pics tomorrow. 

Back

Well I have lots to update on and I wanted to come on here to let my readers know I did not fall off the face of the earth!  It was my last day of work today.  A little sad ( I have been there for 9 years) but yet I"m a little relieved too.  I am looking forward to having a few weekends with the family. Usually I work every single weekend.

Tonight we had my son's awards night to go to so my last day was  little screwed up. I had to go in at 7am till 12:30 and then go to Stefan's awards night and then I had to go back to work from 8:30pm to 11pm.  His awards night went awesome.  The coach said some great stuff about him and of course being his parent I got all teary eyed.  It was so nice to see Stefan so proud of himself.  He got several awards and he also got a dog tag type necklace for going to state.  I have lots of pics and I did video tape Stefan's part which I will add here if you can hear it ok.  Can't see much, I was way in the back. I should have sat closer.  Well, I'ts late and I am SO tired. Cory is out of town for a few days so that means I have to drive Stefan to school in the morning.  I better get some sleep.  I will update pics when cory gets home. He has to download the video for me. 

MIA

wow I have been MIA the past few days.  FIRST I will catch you all up.  It's been snowing here likd crazy the past few days.  My son had State Wrestling and their team took SECOND! I was thrilled!  It was fun and I'm very proud of their team.  My son gets his medal in about a week and I will be sure to take a pic of him with it. 
I have loved the snow falls we got and we had to do a LOT of plowing but were good to go now and it's just beautiful around here. Although my hubby ruined the "look" of my no footprint look when he came trompsing through our woods from our inlaws house next door.  IT was so funny because he was climbing through snow up to his crotch!  He just found it easier to lay down and ROLL down our hill.  It was hilarious!  Well gotta go close up for work but will update again tomorrow.